Weather information delivery systems and methods providing planning functionality and navigational tools

ABSTRACT

A weather system available through the Internet provides for clean and consistent global navigation, brings content close to the consumer, and allows consumers to plan their lives based on the weather. The weather system provides consumers with multiple methods of navigating through the site, including: geographical, categorical/activity-based, localized/contextual, and temporal. These navigation methods are not mutually exclusive but instead are tightly nested to allow consumers to navigate seamlessly through the site, switching from one method to the next. On a local weather page, the information is organized in a hub-and-spoke fashion so that consumers can navigate to interrelated information. The weather system can quickly give consumers the local weather at any location, but also empowers consumers to plan their lives based on the weather. The weather system parses weather information and other data into a database and uses a combination of presentation beans, data beans, and advertisement beans to build pages that are delivered to the consumers. Business logic is incorporated into the beans to allow the system to select content and displays based on the consumer, the consumer&#39;s product, network, geography, weather, co-brand, language, and locale.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application is a continuation-in-part, and incorporates byreference, co-pending application Ser. No. 09/707,335 filed on Nov. 6,2000 and entitled “Targeted Weather Information Delivery Systems andMethods,” and claims priority to, and incorporates by reference,co-pending provisional application serial No. 60/254,211 filed on Dec.8, 2000, entitled “Weather Information Delivery Systems and MethodsProviding Planning Functionality and Navigational Tools.”

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0002] The present invention relates to systems and methods forproviding weather information through the Internet and, moreparticularly, to systems and methods for providing weather informationwhich adopt new navigational tools and new planning functionality.

BACKGROUND

[0003] Weather sites are some of the most popular, if not the mostpopular, visited sites on the Internet. Weather affects our daily livesand it is no surprise that people use the Internet to obtain weatherinformation. Consumers of weather information generally fall into threecategories: weather enthusiasts who genuinely have an interest inweather itself, weather planners who use weather information in planningtheir daily lives, and those consumers who view weather as a commodity.

[0004] The conventional approach in providing weather information to allconsumers is a publishing model. According to this publishing model,weather data gathered and accumulated from various sources is processedto generate the local weather conditions and in generating localforecasts. The local conditions and forecasts are then assembled intoweb pages for each city or location. A consumer visiting a weather siteon the Internet can then enter a city or a zip code and obtain the localforecast and current conditions for that city. This conventionalapproach in publishing weather information is therefore highlystructured along the city pages.

[0005] Weather sites, such as weather.com operated by The WeatherChannel, are relatively well-suited to meet the needs of the consumerswho view weather as a commodity. These consumers can go to the site,enter their city or zip code, and quickly obtain the information theydesire. Weather.com goes one step farther and has a “Customize MyWeather” option whereby consumers can specify the local forecasts andother weather information they desire.

[0006] The publishing model for weather information, on the other hand,is generally ill-suited to satisfy all the needs of the weatherenthusiasts and also of the weather planners. Weather.com has content onits site that addresses the needs of weather planners and also theweather enthusiasts. For example, for the weather enthusiasts,weather.com has a link “learn more” where consumers can learn more aboutthe science behind the weather and about weather safety. For the weatherplanners, weather.com has “Weather and . . . ” links to such things asfinancial forecasts, fall foliage, travel, health, golf, driving,outdoors, home and garden, events, aviation, and school day. Forexample, in selecting the golf link, a consumer can obtain news on golftournaments or see weather information that may be of interest togolfers, such as lightning strikes, current temperatures, and othermaps. When a consumer selects the aviation link, the consumer can obtainweather information that is of interest to aviators, such as windconditions, jet stream forecast, and other maps. When selecting theevents link, consumers can view weather information of interest tooutdoor events, such as thunderstorm forecast, rainfall forecast, andtemperature conditions across the country.

[0007] The weather sites on the Internet are generally focused onproviding weather information and have limited content for the weatherplanners or enthusiasts. Furthermore, consumers generally have to gothrough several layers of navigation before reaching weather informationthat is useful for planning purposes. As is evident from the examplesgiven above, the weather information that is available for planningpurposes is generally a subset of weather information that may be ofinterest for planning an event or activity. Some of the weather sitesare therefore cumbersome and complicated to use for weather planningpurposes.

[0008] A need therefore exists for weather sites that can still satisfythe desires of the consumers who view weather as a commodity yet providebetter service to the weather enthusiasts and weather planners. In someways, the needs of the weather planners and enthusiasts are counter tothose who view weather as a commodity. For those who view weatherinformation as a commodity, these consumers want to be able to go to asite and quickly and easily obtain weather information for a particularlocation or region. In contrast, the weather planners and enthusiastswant more information and content available through the site. Theweather sites have had difficulty in meeting the needs of the weatherenthusiasts and planners since this would entail generating additionalpages each hour, which would be in addition to the millions of pages arealready being generated each hour for city pages.

SUMMARY

[0009] The invention addresses the problems above by providing systemsand methods for delivering weather information which preferably adoptnew navigational tools and planning functionality. The preferred systemadopts a clean, simple, and consistent global navigation and brings deepcontent closer to the consumer. The system also provides consumers withfunctionality that allows them to better plan their lives around theweather.

[0010] In a preferred embodiment, the system is designed so that theconsumer can navigate through multiple methods, which are tightly nestedto each other and are not mutually exclusive. These preferrednavigational methods include geographical, categorical-activity-based,and localized-contextual. Additionally, the system allows consumers tonavigate temporally, such as by year, month, day, or even by hour. Thesystem adopts a geographical architecture that allows the consumer to“drill down” from higher-level geography to a lower-level geography. Thesystem has information organized by category/activity whereby consumerscan search by category information or activity, such as maps or newscenter. The localized/contextual architecture of the system hasinformation organized in a hub-and-spoke fashion such that the consumercan access any page from any other page in that grouping.

[0011] Another way in which consumers can navigate or use the system isthrough a What/Where tool. With this tool, consumers can enter a city,zip code, or other geographical division in a “Where” portion of thetool and by default will receive the local weather forecast for thatgeographical division. The consumer, however, has the ability to changethe “What” part of the tool to do something other than get a localforecast. As one example, the consumer can plan for golf and thenspecify a geographical division in the “Where” portion of the tool.Other options that the consumer can select from, or input, include Planfor ski, Plan for travel, Plan for health, Plan for gardening, etc.

[0012] The system also provides the consumers with a map navigator. Themaps are organized into categories and into a plurality of collectionswithin each category. For instance, under Popular maps, one collectionmight be maps showing the current surface conditions. The maps arefurther organized into families such that any current map may be part ofa family of maps, such as maps of different sizes or resolution.

[0013] The system of the invention preferably provides a clean, simple,and consistent interface to the consumer. The home page preferably hasthe What/Where tool to allow the consumer to jump quickly to a desiredlocal weather forecast or to input another request in the “What” portionof the tool. The home page, as well as all other pages within the site,preferably has a global navigation section which allows consumers toeasily find a desired section of the site. The interface also preferablyhas information organized in a tabular format, such as informationplaced within a home page tab, local weather tab, climatology tab, mapstab, and my weather tab. The home page preferably also has a mapnavigator, links to activities, as well as links to other portions ofthe site or related sites. The consumer can therefore use the globalnavigation, the tabs, the links on each tab, or the various navigationaltools, such as the map, temporal, and What/Where tool to navigate to adesired portion of the site.

[0014] The preferred architecture for the system is separated into fourlayers: a presentation layer, control layer, application layer, and dataaccess layer. The presentation layer is a front end portion whichcontrols the look and feel and delivers results to the consumers. Thecontrol layer controls the application flow through the system and theapplication layer manages the application data and provides businessdata rules processing. The data access layer deals with how data isaccessed from a database. The various pages available through the systemare separated into one or more presentation components. The presentationcomponents may comprise static HTML, may contain dynamic data retrievedusing Java scriplets, may contain data retrieved through presentationbeans, or may contain advertisements retrieved by an advertisement bean.A control servlet will determine which page needs to be built based on aconsumer's request and will build the appropriate presentation beans.The presentation beans will in turn acquire appropriate data beans forinterfacing with the database. The presentation beans process both thebusiness rules and presentation rules on the data and build theappropriate pages. Advertisements are preferably retrieved fromadvertisement servers that track the advertisements served as well astargeting advertisements based on parameters passed to them from anadvertisement interface. From these parameters, the advertisements aswell as all content on the site can be modified according to theconsumer, the consumer's product, the network or platform, the weather,geography, language, locale, and co-brand partner relationship.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0015] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and form apart of the specification, illustrate preferred embodiments of thepresent invention and, together with the description, disclose theprinciples of the invention. In the drawings:

[0016]FIG. 1 is a diagram of an interface to a system according to apreferred embodiment of the invention;

[0017] FIGS. 2(A) to 2(I) depict exemplary screen shots of an interfaceto the system showing tabular arrangement of information, globalnavigation, and a what/where tool;

[0018]FIG. 3 is a diagram of a hub-and-spoke navigational architectureadopted in the preferred embodiment of the invention;

[0019]FIG. 4 is an exemplary screen shot of a temporal navigatorreflected in a seven day forecast;

[0020]FIG. 5 is an exemplary screen shot of a temporal navigatorreflected in a ten day forecast;

[0021]FIG. 6 is an exemplary screen shot of a map navigator used in thepreferred embodiment of the invention;

[0022]FIG. 7 is an exemplary screen shot of an interface availablethrough a Map tab;

[0023] FIGS. 8(A) and 8(B) are exemplary screen shots of interfacesavailable through a Local Weather tab;

[0024]FIG. 9 is an exemplary screen shot of an interface availablethrough a Climatology tab;

[0025]FIG. 10 exemplary screen shot of an interface available throughthe Climatology tab for an international city;

[0026] FIGS. 11(A) and 11(B) illustrate screen shots of conventionalinterfaces for providing weather and planning content;

[0027] FIGS. 11(C) and 11(D) illustrate screen shots of an interfaceaccording to a preferred embodiment of the invention for providingweather and planning content and functionality;

[0028] FIGS. 12(A) to 12(N) are mock-up screen shots of interfacesdescribing an exemplary consumer navigation through the system;

[0029]FIG. 13 is a block diagram of a network including the systemaccording to the preferred embodiment of the invention;

[0030]FIG. 14 is a high-level block diagram of the system of FIG. 13;

[0031]FIG. 15 is a diagram of a web application architecture for thesystem of FIG. 13 representing a model-view-controller pattern;

[0032]FIG. 16 is a more detailed block diagram of an application anddata access layer of the system shown in FIG. 14;

[0033] FIGS. 17(A) and 17(B) are flow charts depicting a method executedby the system of FIG. 14 in processing consumer requests;

[0034]FIG. 18 is a diagram of a generic page delivered by the system ofFIG. 14;

[0035]FIG. 19 is a diagram of a command framework used in the system ofFIG. 14;

[0036]FIG. 20 is a more detailed block diagram of the data access layershown in FIG. 14;

[0037]FIG. 21 is a more detailed block diagram of an interface to anadvertisement system;

[0038]FIG. 22 is a conceptual diagram of a delivery method according toanother embodiment of the invention; and

[0039]FIG. 23 is a block diagram of a system according to anotherembodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0040] I. Overview

[0041] With preferred embodiments of the invention, systems and methodsfor providing weather information over the Internet reflect an entirelydifferent design and approach in delivering weather information andother content to consumers. The systems still allow consumers who viewweather information as a commodity to obtain their weather informationquickly and easily over the Internet. The systems and methods arefurther able to address the needs and desires of weather enthusiasts andweather planners. The systems and methods provide functionality toconsumers which allows them to more intelligently plan their lives basedon the weather and predictions or forecasts of the weather. The systemsand methods also address the needs and desires of weather enthusiasts byproviding them with the information they desire in a more efficient anduser-friendly manner.

[0042] The systems and methods according to the preferred embodiments ofthe invention adopt clean, simple, and consistent global navigation.Whereas many publishing sites on the Internet can easily confuse andcomplicate navigation, the systems and methods of the invention make iteasy for consumers to navigate throughout the site and obtain theinformation they desire. The systems and methods also bring contentcloser to the consumer making it easier for the consumer to find whatthey desire. Many publishing sites on the Internet require consumers todelve deeper and deeper into a site in order reach their finaldestination. In contrast, the systems and methods of the invention adoptan architecture that eliminates the need for the consumer to go deepinto the site but instead allows consumers to more quickly and easilyfind the desired destination.

[0043] The systems and methods of the invention also merge weatherinformation and other content with activities-based content. Presently,many weather sites on the Internet are focused mainly on publishingweather information and may group subsets of the weather information fordifferent activities. For instance, aviators can obtain weatherinformation that is of interest to them, such as wind speed and the jetstream, which differs from the weather information presented to golfers,which may be temperature and precipitation. The systems and methods ofthe invention, in contrast, tie the weather information to specificactivities, such as golf at a particular course or weather conditionsfor an outdoor sporting event. Thus, consumers can not only use thesystems and methods to obtain relevant weather information but can, atthe same time, use the systems and methods in planning their activities.

[0044] As will be described in more detail below, the systems andmethods adopt some new navigational paradigms for delivering weatherinformation. Whereas conventional weather sites rely on the city or zipcode as the primary navigational tool, the systems and methods permitconsumers to navigate by city or zip code but also give consumers thechoice of searching in other ways. In the preferred embodiment, thesystems and methods use a “What?” and “Where?” tool whereby consumerscan specify what they want to do and also where they want to do it. Forinstance, the default setting for the What/Where search is to get aforecast and the consumer specifies the city or zip. With the What/Wheretool, consumers can also plan a certain activity at a certain locationor learn more about the weather at certain locations.

[0045] In addition to the What/Where tool, the systems and methods ofthe invention also allow consumers to navigate geographically,categorically, by activity, by locale, contextually, and/or also bytime. As will be apparent from the description below, these modes ofnavigation are not mutually exclusive but instead a consumer can jumpfrom one type of navigational method to a different method. Forinstance, a consumer can search according to an activity and, after theresults are returned, then navigate through time.

[0046] II. Page Layout

[0047] An interface 10 according to a preferred embodiment of theinvention will now be described with reference to FIG. 1. The interface10 is the general template for the look and feel of the interface andhas a logo or banner in a section (1) of the interface 10. For instance,for The Weather Channel the logo/banner would be weather.com and cancontain the logo for The Weather Channel.

[0048] A second section (2) is intended to contain featured linksassociated with the site, which may be replaced on a periodic basis.These links preferably have some relevance to present activities orevents, such as pollen count in the spring or hurricane watch duringhurricane season. These links need not be limited to weather conditionsbut can also contain news items or weather-related events, such asflight arrivals and delays. Overall, the featured links promotedifferent areas of the site and can change from page to page within thesite. These links may be static or, alternatively, an applet may be usedto scroll a number of links through the section (2).

[0049] The interface 10 also includes a global navigation section (3)which preferably has pop-up menus. In the preferred embodiment theglobal navigation section (3) has headings of “Home,” “Forecast andMaps,” “NewsCenter,” “Activities,” “Interact,” “Services,” and“International.” The global navigation section (3) is preferablypositioned near the top of the interface 10 such as in the positionshown or immediately beneath the logo section (1) and the featured linkssection (2).

[0050] The interface 10 also includes a What/Where navigation sectionfor allowing consumers to use the What/Where navigational tool. In thepreferred implementation of the What/Where tool, the “What” choicesappear in a drop-down menu and the default is always “Get a forecast.”The “Where” choice of the navigational tool is preferably a text entrybox to allow the consumer to enter location information, such ascountry, region, zip code, city, etc.

[0051] The systems and methods of the invention preferably operate undera business model that is heavily dependent upon advertising revenue.Accordingly, the interface 10 includes a section (5) set aside for abanner ad or other relevant content. The ad section (5) is in a fairlyprominent portion of the interface 10, covers a significant amount of“real estate” of the interface 10, and accordingly should be valuable toadvertisers.

[0052] A main content area (6) is the largest section of the interface10. This main content area (6) contains both content and preferablyadvertisements. In the preferred implementation, the content isseparated into a set of tabbed pages to allow for simple andstraightforward navigation. In the preferred embodiment, the tabs thatappear on the interface include tabs for “Homepage,” “Local Weather,”“Climatology,” “Maps,” and “My Weather.” The systems and methods are notlimited to use of just these tabs but, as will be apparent from thedescription below, incorporates the use of other sets of tabbed pages.

[0053] The interface 10 also includes a footer section (7) whichcontains miscellaneous information. For example, the footer section (7)can contain copyright information, legal restrictions, terms of use,privacy statement and related certifications, and partnershipinformation. The footer information is preferably static and appears onevery page.

[0054] An example of a main interface 10 populated with content is shownin FIGS. 2(A) to 2(I). As shown in these examples, the logo/bannersection (1) contains the banner for weather.com and The Weather Channeland the featured links section (2) contains three features of the week,such as “Pollen Count,” “Flight Arrival and Delays,” and “StormWatch.”The global navigation section (3) is positioned under sections (1) and(2) and contains drop-down menus which are shown in FIGS. 2(B) to 2(H).The What/Where navigation section (4) illustrates the default search of“Get a forecast” but FIG. 2(I) illustrates some of the choices availablein the drop-down menus, such as “Plan for Golf” or “Plan for Travel.”The ad section (5) shows a banner advertisement, the main content area(6) shows content and advertisements arranged in a tabular format and asan assembly of presentation components, and the footer section (7)contains the copyright notice, AOL partnership banner, and Trust-einformation.

[0055] The main content area (6), as discussed above, includes a numberof presentation components which in this example comprise “BreakingWeather,” “Maps,” “Highlights,” “Activities,” “Interact with TWC,” and“On the Air.” The arrangement of the presentation components shown inFIG. 2 is one template used in presenting weather and other content toconsumers. The actual content that is delivered to a particularpresentation component is defined by rules associated with that templateand that presentation component. The manner in which templates andpresentation components are used to formulate pages and interfaces shownto consumers will be described in more detail below. The invention isnot limited to this precise interface 10 with the presentationcomponents and sections shown but may have other sections and/ordifferent arrangements of the presentation components.

[0056] III. Preferred Layout of Main Content Area

[0057] As mentioned above, the main content area (6) on the interface 10is preferably presented as a set of tabbed-pages. By using thesetabbed-pages, relevant content/functionality can be exposed to theconsumer which allows the consumer to navigate quickly to desiredcontent. The systems and methods of the invention support two kinds oftabbed-pages, static and results. The static pages are always visibleand hold things such as the home page, index pages, planner pages, etc.In contrast, the results pages are tabbed pages that are added to staticpages only when the consumer explicitly requests them, such as a resultof a search. For example, a consumer on a ski index page that checksresort conditions near Denver would obtain a list of the resorts and theconditions on a results page. For some sections of the site, a singletabbed-page holds all the content. For example, the home page or themaps index page holds all relevant content. In contrast, for allactivities sections of the site, the content is preferably spread acrossmultiple tabbed-pages. For consistency purposes, the first page ispreferably an index page and the other pages, in order, are a plannerpage, planner advanced functionality page(s) and a MyPlanner page.

[0058] For example, a set of tabs for the activity of skiing mayinclude, in order, “Ski Index,” “Ski Planner,” “Find a Resort,” and MySki Planner.” An intended purpose of the index page, such as the SkiIndex page, is to list all of the available “tasks” that the consumercan perform in that section. When the task requires a results page, theresults page appears as its own tabbed page immediately after the pagefrom where the task was performed. For example, a set of tabs may appearin order as the “Ski Index,” “Snow Conditions,” “Ski Planner,” “Find aResort,” and My Ski Planner.” These tabbed-pages appear after a consumerselects a “Check Snow Conditions” task from the Ski Index page. If theconsumer then selects the Ski Index page again, the “Snow Conditions”tabbed-page is removed.

[0059] IV. Navigation Architecture

[0060] As briefly mentioned above, the systems and methods of theinvention employ multiple navigational paradigms. In general, thesenavigational architectures include geographical,categorical/activity-based, and localized/contextual. As will be moreapparent from the description below, these navigation architectures arenot mutually exclusive but instead are tightly nested and interrelated.

[0061] A. Geographical Architecture

[0062] A purpose of the geographical architecture is to allow theconsumer to “drill down” between different levels of geography. Forinstance, a consumer can drill down from a higher-level geography to alower-level geography. The preferred geographical navigationarchitecture is as follows: world, continent, geo-political region,country, region, state, and city. With this architecture, the world pagewould show a list of continents, the continent page would show a list ofcountries for that continent, the geo-political region page would show alist of countries in that region, and a country page would show a listof states or cities. A region page would show a list of states, a statepage would show a list of cities, and a local weather page would showthe local weather information for that city. It should be understoodthat this geographical hierarchy is just one example and that otherdivisions and classifications are possible. Furthermore, thegeographical hierarchy discussed above is preferably presented to theconsumer and may or may not reflect the segmentation of the data andcontent. For example, the segmentation of the data and content may bebased on hemisphere, county, telephone area code, ocean, nationalweather service zone, marine zone, landmarks, latitude/longitude, directmarketing area (DMA), etc.

[0063] According to one aspect, consumers can navigate geographicallythrough this hierarchy to arrive at a desired geographical division.Preferably, however, the consumer is presented with one of theabove-specified geographical pages only when the consumer entersambiguous search criteria, such as in the What/Where search tool. Thegeographical navigation is preferably displayed at the top of a searchresults page, such as World: North America: United States: Southeast:Georgia:. By displaying this geographical navigation, the consumer isgiven easy and visible access to the geographical organization ofinformation and can select and navigate through the different divisionsof the hierarchy. For example, in the example above, the consumer can gofrom a Georgia state page and select the United States and obtainweather information on a national level.

[0064] B. Categorical/Activity-Based Architecture

[0065] The weather information and other content is grouped bycategory/activity. Each of these distinct categories is directlyaccessible via the global navigation section (3) of the interface 10.These categorical/activity-based categories include “Forecast & Maps,”“NewsCenter,” “Activities,” “Interact,” “Services,” and “International.”

[0066] The global navigation is presented in the form of a pop-up menustructure that appears horizontally across the top of the page insection (3). As the consumer rolls the cursor over the top-level menuitems, a pop-up menu appears showing a list of links associated withthat category, such as the ones shown in FIGS. 2(B) to 2(H). The pop-upmenu generally only contains links to index pages of the differentcontent category sections of the site. This method of global navigationprovides quick access to main content areas of the site and alsoprovides users a quick overview of the content contained on the site.

[0067] In the preferred embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2(B), the “Home”menu item contains links to “Home Page,” “Site Map,” and “Site Search.”The “Forecasts & Maps” menu item preferably contains links to “LocalWeather,” “World Weather,” “Schoolday Forecasts,” “Audio/Videoforecasts,” and “Weather Maps.” As shown in FIG. 2(D), the “NewsCenter”menu item contains links to a “News Center” index page, “ForecastSummary,” “Storm Watch,” and “Special Reports.” As shown in FIG. 2(E),the “Activities” menu item preferably contains links to “Golf,” “Ski,”“Travel,” “Driving,” “Outdoors,” “Home & Garden,” “Health,” “Aviation,”“Events,” and “Holidays.” The “Interact” menu item, as shown in FIG.2(F), preferably has links to “Messages Boards & Chat,” “Learn AboutWeather,” “Talk To Us,” “Work With Us,” and “About the Weather Channel.”The “Services” menu item preferably has links to “My Weather,” “FreeEmail,” “Inbox Weather,” “Wireless Weather,” “Weather On Your Site,”“The Weather Channel Store,” and “Business Services,” as shown in FIG.2(G). Finally, as shown in FIG. 2(H), the “International” menu item haslinks to weather.com Espanol and weather.com Brasil. The above-mentionedmenu items and links are only examples and it should be understood thatother menu items and also other links may be used in the globalnavigation section (3) of the interface 10. Furthermore, sub-menu itemsmay be added to the links that appear under the menu items. For example,under the link to “Ski” under “Activities,” the different sections ortasks available on the ski index page can be shown as separate links.

[0068] C. Localized/Contextual Architecture

[0069] The systems and methods of the invention advantageously enablesconsumers to navigate amongst contextually-related groups of pages. Eachgroup of contextually-related pages is organized in a hub-and-spokefashion such that a main page acts as a hub and each other page isaccessible directly from that page. Also, every page in a group ofcontextually-related pages is preferably accessible from every otherpage in that group. A diagram illustrating this hub-and-spokearchitecture is shown in FIG. 3. In this example, one such group ofcontextually-related pages would be a locale, such as a local weatherpage and all of the related localized content pages for that city. Withreference to FIG. 3, the Atlanta Local Weather page is the hub and thespokes are Atlanta Golf, Atlanta Travel, Atlanta Driving, Atlanta Flu,etc. In general, a consumer enters this group of pages normally throughthe local weather page. From the local weather page, the consumer canjump directly to a localized activity page and then, from that page, toany other localized activity page in that group or back to the localweather page. The localized/contextual architecture is supported by aset of links shown on each related page so that the user can, with asingle click, jump to a contextually-related page. This simplenavigation enforces the grouping of localized content and makes it morelikely and easier for a consumer to jump to another page whichordinarily may have been hidden or deeply buried in conventional weathersites. This hub-and-spoke arrangement also greatly facilitates use ofthe site for planning purposes.

[0070] D. What/Where Search

[0071] The What/Where search tool which appears in section (4) of theinterface 10 and shown in FIG. 2(I) is one of several navigational toolsavailable to the consumer. The What/Where search tool can be used in thesame manner as a city or zip code search found in many conventionalweather sites. As mentioned above, the default entry for “What” is to“Get a forecast.” Thus, by default, the consumer can go to this tool andenter a city or zip code and obtain local weather information.Additionally, the What/Where tool allows the consumer to specify anactivity other than getting a local forecast and obtain results based onthe specified activity. For example, the “What” component of the toolcan contain a dropdown menu of a predefined list of activities, such as“Plan for golf,” “Plan for travel,” and “Plan for health.” Preferably,the predefined list of activities are phrased to lead the consumer toenter something in the text box for “Where.” For instance, the languageshould preferably be a call to action that implies the need for alocation such as “Plan for golf in” or “Plan for skiing in.” Instead of,or in addition to, the list of predefined activities, the What/Wheretool could have a text entry box that allows the consumer to enteranything in the “What” component of the search. The systems of theinvention would then try to match what was entered by the consumer witha category of content or information.

[0072] In the “Where” component of the What/Where tool, the consumerenters the geographical region of interest or division in the hierarchy.In the preferred embodiment, the consumer can specify any division inthe hierarchy, such as a US zip code, city, state, region, country, cityand state, or city and country. If the consumer enters ambiguous searchcriteria in the “Where” component of this tool, the system provides theconsumer with a results page that lets the consumer select from a listof search results and preferably provides the consumer with the mostlikely choice at the top of this list. For instance, if the consumerenters “Paris” in the “Where” component of the tool, the systems providethe consumer with a list of cities that are named Paris, with ParisFrance at the top of the list.

[0073] E. Temporal Navigator

[0074] In addition to searching by geography, by the What/Where tool, bycategory, or by locale/context, the systems and methods of the inventionalso support navigation by time. As with the other methods ofnavigation, the temporal navigator is not mutually exclusive to theother modes of navigation but instead is intertwined with the othernavigation methods. The temporal navigator is a calendar-display thatcontains a wealth of information and allows consumers to navigatetemporally. The navigation tool serves to display forecast informationand allows consumers to click on any day or other time period to jumpdirectly to that period in time. More detailed information for thatselected period of time can then be shown to the consumer. In additionto moving through time, the consumer is preferably also able to specifya specific period of time and obtain historical, current, orclimatological data. As part of the calendar-like display, details for a“selected” day is preferably shown, such as the current weatherconditions. The default “selected” day is the present day but theconsumer can select another day in order to reveal details relevant tothat day.

[0075] An example of such a calendar-like display is shown in FIG. 4. Asshown in this figure, the display shows seven days of forecast data withthe current day being the first, or left-most day, in the display. Thedisplay preferably shows seven days of forecast data since most localforecasts are at most a seven day forecast. The invention however is notlimited to just a seven day forecast but can have a greater number ofdays displayed on the local weather page. For example, manyinternational cities have ten days of forecast information available, inwhich case the temporal navigator preferably shows seven days but allowsthe user to obtain the other days of forecast data. The consumer canobtain all ten days through a pop-up window by scrolling through thedays, or resizing a window. FIG. 5 shows an example of a ten dayforecast for Paris, France which allows the consumer to scroll throughthe ten days of forecast data. As shown in above in both FIGS. 4 and 5,the weather information that is shown includes a UV index. The UV indexis shown by default but other indices may be shown. For example, whenthe consumer is on a planner page, the temporal navigator may showplanner index values. Additional description of the planner index valuesis given below.

[0076] F. Map Navigator

[0077] A map navigator is a functional tool available through thesystems of the invention which consumers can use when viewing maps. Themap navigator presents a single, consistent way of viewing maps andpresent a set of related maps in an easy-to-browse package. An exampleof a map navigator is shown in FIG. 6. The map navigator includes awindow having a title, the map itself, a “click to enlarge” link which,when selected, causes a pop-up window to appear with a larger version ofthe map navigator tool showing the larger sized map. If the map cannotbe enlarged any further, the “click to enlarge” link is not shown. Themap shown in FIG. 6 also includes a “Show map in motion” link whichcauses a pop-up window to appear with controls to allow for mapanimation. The “Show map in motion” link appears with only certain typesof maps that lend themselves to animation, such as those that canprovide useful information on the time-varying characteristics of thecontent being shown in the map. While not shown in FIG. 6, some mapsalso have a set of links for days of the week, such as weekly forecastmaps. The consumer can select any one of these daily links to see thesame map for a different day. The map navigator tool also enables theconsumer to select other maps, such as a list of related maps to the oneshown. The map navigator tool also has a link “How to read this map”which activates a pop-up window displaying an explanation for thecurrently selected map. The map navigator tool preferably allows theconsumer to change the scale of the selected map by zooming in or outand also to pan across the map, such as by moving north, south, east, orwest.

[0078] The map navigator tool discussed with reference to FIG. 6 canappear in many places throughout the site. For example, as shown in FIG.2, the map navigator tool can appear on the “Home” page as one of thepresentation components. As will be described in more detail below, themap navigator tool can also appear through the “Local Weather” tab or“My Weather” tab. A more direct route to obtain the map navigator toolis through the “Maps” tab or through the “Forecast & Maps” menu item inthe global navigation tool. The map navigator tool and the particularmap shown forms a presentation component that can appear virtuallyanyplace within the site.

[0079] V. Maps Category

[0080] The “Maps” tab allows the consumer to navigate through the mapsavailable at the site. FIG. 7 is an example of an interface that canappear upon selecting the “map” tab. As shown in FIG. 7, a presentationcomponent on the right side of the interface shows a map navigator tooland the left side has a presentation component of a Map Selector. TheMap Selector allows consumers to browse through different categories ofmaps, such as Activity, Geography, Type, and Popularity. When a consumerselects one of the categories, a default map is shown in the mapnavigator tool with other maps in that category being available toconsumers through a pull-down menu on the map navigator tool. Forexample, when the consumer selects the Activity maps and further choosesthe Travel Maps, a default map of the “Current Surface” conditions isshown, with other travel maps being available through the drop-down menuhaving the prompt “Select Another Map.” If the consumer selects thepopular maps, the consumer is presented with links to Current Surfacemap, Radar, and Satellite maps. If the consumer selects the Radar mapscategory within popular maps, then the consumer is presented with adefault Radar map, such as the US Radar map, and can choose from otherradar maps through the pull-down menu, such as regional and popularlocal radar maps.

[0081] The Maps category in the site allows the consumer to search andsort through the entire inventory of maps available on the site. Theconsumer can sort through the maps by selecting certain categories ofmaps and also from groups of maps within each category. Furthermore, theuser can use the drop-down menu on the map navigator to select otherrelated maps. While not shown, the consumer is preferably also able toenter criteria for a search of a particular map or a set of maps. Forexample, the user preferably is able to search for maps by city, zipcode, or other geographical division. For example, if the consumerselects the Geography category of maps, the consumer is presented with acategory called “Local Weather maps.” The consumer is then presentedwith a search box where the consumer can enter a city or zip code andobtain the desired map or category of maps in the map navigator.

[0082] As should be apparent, a given map available through the site canbe obtained by a consumer in multiple ways through the site. Forexample, the Current Surface conditions can be pulled through more thanone of the Activity groups of pages, such as Travel and Golf, but alsocan be obtained through Geography or the Popular maps categories ofmaps. Also, as discussed above, the map navigator preferably allows theconsumer to zoom in and out and also to move to the north, south, east,and west.

[0083] VI. Local Weather

[0084] By selecting the “Forecasts” tab, the What/Where tool, and inother ways, consumers can obtain local weather conditions and/orforecasts for a geographical division. Examples of local weather pagesare shown in FIGS. 8(A) and 8(B). As is true with all pages on the site,the banner section (1), featured links section (2), What/Where section(4), ad section (5), and global navigation section (3) appear at the topof the interface. The local weather interfaces have a plurality ofpresentation components, including the temporal navigator showing amulti-day forecast. The local weather interface also includes a currentconditions presentation component which shows the current or predictedconditions for the selected day within the temporal navigator. The localweather interface includes a map navigator which is selected based onthe geographical division specified and a local linker presentationcomponent which shows a list of links associated with the geographicaldivision. An activity planners presentation component is also placed onthe local weather interface and shows a list of links for planningdifferent aspects of the consumers' lives. The main content section (6)of the local weather interface includes one or more presentationcomponents for displaying advertisements and also for related sites.

[0085]FIG. 8(A) shows the local weather page for Dallas, Tex. for Jul.16, 2000. When the consumer selects a different day in the temporalnavigator, the current conditions presentation component shows theconditions or predicted conditions for the selected day and the mapsnavigator is also changed to display a map corresponding to thatselected day. FIG. 8(B) illustrates how the interface changes when Jul.17, 2000 is selected. While not shown, other presentation components mayalso be tied to the day selected within the temporal navigator and havethe content changed accordingly. For example, the local linker mayprovide links associated with events on the new day and theadvertisements may vary with the selected day.

[0086] The local weather interface may also include a weather alertpresentation component, as shown in FIGS. 8(A) and 8(B) below the tabs.This presentation component appears as part of the local weatherinterface only when a weather alert has been issued for the geographicalregion selected by the consumer. A shortened version of the full weatheralert preferably scrolls across the presentation component and theconsumer can click on the scrolling text to receive the full details ofthe alert in a pop-up window. The weather alert is preferably colorcoded to indicate its severity, with urgent severe weather beingdisplayed in red and non-urgent in yellow.

[0087] VII. Climatology

[0088] The consumer can also navigate through the site with the“Climatology” tab. After the consumer selects the “Climatology” tab, thesystems of the invention prompt the consumer to specify a geographicaldivision. Preferably, the systems provide the consumer with ageographical search box to allow the consumer to enter the geographicaldivision of interest. The systems then deliver the climatology detailspage for the requested geographical division. If the consumer hasalready entered a geographical division, such as through a local weatherpage or in some other context, the systems provide the consumer withclimatology results for that particular division upon selection of the“Climatology” tab. Therefore, the consumer does not need to reenter aparticular geographical division but instead can continue navigatingthrough the site along a previously defined thread.

[0089] The climatology results page shows the climatology data for thespecified geographical division over a twelve month period. Thisclimatology data may include the average high temperature, average lowtemperature, mean temperature, average precipitation, record high, andrecord low for each month. An example of a climatology results interfaceis shown in FIG. 9. In this example, the monthly climatology informationis placed in a first presentation component and, if the consumer hasselected a particular month or day, daily climatology is shown in aseparate presentation component. In this manner, the consumer can selectany month of the year as well as any day for every geographical divisionavailable in the site. If the consumer has already specified a period oftime, such as a month or a particular date, then the systems provide theconsumer with the climatology results for that particular time. Anexample of a climatology results interface for an international city,namely Paris, France, is shown in FIG. 10.

[0090] VIII. Planner Functionality

[0091] As mentioned above, a significant advantage of the systems andmethods of the invention is that consumers can better plan their livesaround the weather. Conventional weather sites on the Internet areprimarily focused on publishing current weather conditions and alsoweather forecasts. The typical approach of many weather sites is tooffer information on activities segregated from the actual weatherinformation. An example of a golf index page currently available throughweather.com is shown in FIG. 11(A). As shown in this figure, weather.comprovides a collection of weather information that may be of interest togolfers, such as maps of lightning strikes, current temperatures, weeklyplanner, and other maps. Weather.com also provides some golf-relatedinformation, such as a golf message board, tips on golf, and weather atPGA tournaments. An example of the weather conditions at The TourChampionship in Atlanta, Georgia is shown in FIG. 11(B).

[0092] The systems and methods of the invention, in contrast toconventional weather sites, allow consumers to not only obtain pertinentweather information but also to actually plan their activities. Toillustrate the advantages of the planning functionality in theinvention, an example will be given with reference to planning a golfevent. FIG. 11(C) illustrates a golf index page which is presented tothe consumer after selecting the link “plan for golf” in the activityplanner presentation component. This activity planner presentationcomponent is preferably located in many places through the system, suchas on the “Home” page, “Forecast & Maps” tab, in the “Activities” menuheading, as well as in other places. The golf index page allows theconsumer to obtain golf and weather information. For example, as shownin FIG. 11(C), a consumer is presented with a “Find a Local Golf Course”presentation component which serves as a tool for searching for a golfcourse. The golf course locator tool preferably allows consumers tosearch public, private, semi-private, military, resort, or all coursesfor a specified geographical division. Thus, through this golf indexpage, the consumer can plan to play golf in a specified geographicaldivision by entering the division of interest. While not shown, the golfcourse locator tool preferably also enables the consumer to search forcourses by name, golf index, weather conditions, cost, level ofdifficulty, and availability.

[0093] For instance, if the consumer is interested in playing golf inAbilene, Tex., the consumer can enter the city and state in the “playgolf in” text box and the consumer can receive a page such as the oneshown in FIG. 11(D). As shown in this figure, the consumer receives thecurrent weather conditions for Abilene, Tex., the temporal navigator,the maps navigator, and the severe weather alert, if one has been issuedfor that region. The golf planner page additionally provides theconsumer with a list of golf courses near Abilene, Tex., currentobservations at those courses, and a golf index. The golf index is ameasure of a set of weather conditions that influence the game of golf,such as temperature, humidity, lightning conditions, wind conditions,and precipitation. The golf course information presentation componentshown in FIG. 11(D) also provides other useful information on courses,such as distance from the geographical location of interest, which inthis case is Abilene, Tex. Other information, such as cost,availability, and level of difficulty could also be provided in thepresentation component and/or may be available on links to theindividual courses. The golf course information presentation componenttherefore allows consumers to more easily plan their activities bygiving consumers the weather information tightly integrated with golfinformation, such as a list of golf courses associated with ageographical division, weather conditions, and an index that consumerscan use as a tool to rank the courses based on weather.

[0094] In this example the consumer went to the golf index page andentered the geographical region of interest. The consumer can obtain thegolf planner page in other ways without going through the golf indexpage. For example, if the consumer had already specified a geographicaldivision, such as through a local weather search, through a search ofmaps, through climatology, through “My Weather” or in planning for othertypes of activities in the geographical division, such as travel.

[0095] IX. Exemplary Consumer Navigation

[0096] The invention has been described above with reference to varioustools, navigators, presentation components, content areas, linkage,interfaces, and planning functionality. An example will now be given ofa consumer's possible navigation through a site operated by a system ofthe invention in order to illustrate aspects of the invention. In thisexample, the consumer first goes to the home page and then clicks on the“Local Weather” tab to obtain local weather conditions for a desiredgeographical division. The consumer is then presented with the interfaceshown in FIG. 12(A) in which the consumer is prompted to enter thegeographical division of interest, such as by entering a zip code orcity. The consumer next receives the interface shown in FIG. 12(B),which is the local weather page for the specified division. As discussedabove, the local weather page has the map navigator and temporalnavigator which allow the consumer to navigate through the maps and alsonavigate through time. If a weather alert has been issued for thatregion, then the interface shown in FIG. 12(B) displays the alert inclickable scrolling text. The consumer also receives a local linkerpresentation component to allow the consumer to navigate through thehub-and-spoke localized/contextual architecture. The local weather pagealso has a planner linker presentation component to allow the consumerto plan for activities.

[0097] Through the temporal navigator, the consumer can obtain moredetailed weather information for the days shown in the forecast window.For example, by selecting the present day, the consumer obtains a moredetailed break down of the weather conditions for the day, such as hourby hour, day conditions, night conditions, and almanac data. After 2:00p.m. for the region of interest, the consumer preferably receives theinterface shown in FIG. 12(D), which includes the night forecast butdoes not include the day portion of the forecast. If instead ofselecting the current day, the consumer selects either day two or threefrom the temporal navigator, the consumer preferably receives theinterface shown in FIG. 12(E). As the consumer navigates farther intime, the ability to provide precise weather forecasts on a granularlevel becomes impossible. Consequently, when the consumer selects dayfour from the temporal navigator, the consumer preferably receives theinterface shown in FIG. 12(F) in which the hour by hour forecastinformation has been deleted. The local weather pages shown in FIGS.12(B) through 12(F) include a local severe weather alert presentationcomponent for displaying weather alerts. An example of an interfacewithout the severe weather alert is shown in FIG. 12(G). An example oflocal weather for an international city is shown in FIG. 12(H).

[0098] As shown above in FIGS. 12(C), (D), (E), (G), and (H), a link toan hour by hour details page is provided on the temporal navigator whenthe results for one day are displayed. An example of an hour by hourdetails results page is shown in FIG. 12(I). Through this hour by hourdetails results page, the consumer can navigate hour by hour through theweather data for a particular location and date. From this page, theconsumer can also jump back to the daily local weather or go to otherinformation contained on the site.

[0099] By selecting the “Climatology” tab, the consumer receives aclimatology index page, such as the one shown in FIG. 12(J). From thisindex page, the consumer enters the geographical division where theconsumer desires climatology information. For instance, the consumer canenter the zip code or name of a city to receive the correspondingclimatology data. An example of a climatology details results page isshown in FIG. 12(K). At first, the climatology details results pageincludes a presentation component for monthly climatology data for thegeographical region of interest. Upon selecting one of the months withinthe monthly climatology presentation component, the consumer receives adaily climatology presentation component beneath the monthly climatologypresentation component. If all days of the month are not shown in thedaily climatology presentation component, the consumer can select theother days in order to obtain climatology data for any day of the month.As with the local weather, if the consumer had already specified ageographical division or period of time and then selected theclimatology tab, the consumer directly receives the climatology data forthe geographical division of interest and the daily climatologypresentation component has the selected period of time highlighted.

[0100] As mentioned above, a map navigator is provided on many of theinterfaces and can be obtained through the “Maps” tab or through othernavigation routes. Upon selecting the map navigator, the consumerreceives a pop-up window of the map, such as shown in the interface inFIG. 12(L). With reference to FIG. 12(L), the consumer can use mapmotion controls to view the map in motion, if the map is motion-enabled.The consumer can click on a “How to Read this Map” link to obtain anexplanation of the map and can click on a “Click to Reduce” link toobtain a small map pop-up window, such as the one shown in FIG. 12(M).The small pop-up window shown in FIG. 12(M) includes similar links butincludes a “Click to Enlarge” link to obtain the large pop-up windowshown in FIG. 12(L). The maps shown in FIGS. 12(L) to 12(N) form afamily of maps which in this example are maps of different sizes. Someof the map navigators allow consumers to view a collection of maps, eachof which may be part of a family of maps. FIG. 12(N) illustrates apop-up window of map navigator having a drop-down menu of maps in thesame collection as the one shown. The consumer can use this drop-downmenu to select any one of the maps in that collection.

[0101] X. Architecture Overview

[0102] A weather system 100 according to a preferred embodiment of thesystem is illustrated in FIG. 13. The weather system 10 receivesinformation from one or more data feeds 90. These data feeds 90 may bederived from governmental sources, commercial suppliers, privatecitizens or groups, mobile or stationery sources, or terrestrial,air-borne, space-situated, or marine-based sources. Some examples ofdata feeds 90 for weather information include National Weather Service,the National Center for Environmental Predictions, The Weather Channel,NOAA, Fleet Weather, Weather Labs, Inc., Accu Weather, Weather Concepts,or any third party value added supplier. The data feeds 90 also includenon-weather information which could relate to golfing, skiing, traffic,airport delays, events, activities, sporting events, advertisements,recommendations, commands, etc.

[0103] The weather system 100 communicates with a plurality of devicesthrough one or more networks 110. For instance, as shown in FIG. 13, theweather system 10 communicates with mobile radiotelephones or othercommunication devices 113, lap-top computers 114, digital TV, WebTV, andother TV products 115, Palm Pilots, Pocket PCs, and other PersonalDigital Assistants 116, and desk-top computers 117. The weather system100 advantageously is not limited to these types of products 113 through117 but is able to accommodate new products as well as new brands,models, standards or variations of existing products. As will bedescribed in more detail below, the weather system 100 can optimize thepresentation and selection of information according to the network 110as well as the product.

[0104] The network 110 will, of course vary, with the product receivingthe information from the weather system 100. For mobile radiotelephones113, the network may comprise AMPS, PCS, GSM, NAMPS, USDC, CDPD, IS-95,GSC, Pocsag, FLEX, DCS-1900, PACS, MIRS, e-TACS, NMT, C-450, ERMES, CD2,DECT, DCS-1800, JTACS, PDC, NTT, NTACS, NEC, PHS, or satellite systems.For a lap-top computer 114, the network 110 may comprise a cellulardigital packet data (CDPD) network, any other packet digital or analognetwork, circuit-switched digital or analog data networks, wireless ATMor frame relay networks, EDGE, CDMAONE, or generalized packet radioservice (GPRS) network. For a TV product 115, the network 110 mayinclude the Internet, coaxial cable networks, hybrid fiber coaxial cablesystems, fiber distribution networks, satellite systems, terrestrialover-the-air broadcasting networks, wireless networks, or infrarednetworks. The same type of networks 110 that deliver information tomobile radiotelephones 113 and to lap-top computers 114 as well as toother wireless devices, may also deliver information to the PDAs 116.Similarly, the same types of networks 110 that deliver information to TVproducts 115 may also deliver information to desk-top computers 117. Itshould be understood that the types of networks 110 mentioned above withrespect to the products 113 to 117 are just examples and that otherexisting as well as future-developed networks may be employed and areencompassed by the invention.

[0105] A. System Diagram

[0106] A more detailed block diagram of the weather system 100 is shownin FIG. 14. As discussed above with reference to FIG. 13, the weathersystem 100 receives weather information from data feeds 90 which notonly include weather information but are also intended to encompassesother content, especially content suitable for planning purposes. Theweather system 100 includes a parser 101 for receiving the data and forstoring the data within database 103 and a data access layer 105 forcontrolling the retrieval of data from the database 103. A control layer107 controls the application flow, such as the flow of information,data, and other signaling, between the various components of the system100. An application layer 106 incorporates business rules and otherlogic to manage the application data and to determine how to respond toconsumer requests. A presentation layer 108 controls the look and feelof the content and delivers the content to the consumers. The system 100preferably also includes an advertisement system 109 managing theadvertisements that are selected and delivered to consumers. It shouldbe understood that the structure of the system 100 is one example of howthe system 100 may be implemented and that the system 100 may vary fromthat shown in FIG. 14.

[0107] The weather system 100 advantageously creates the single database103 which stores the weather information and other information used byall of the products. Thus, the information delivered to a PDA 116 isobtained from the database 103 as is the information that is deliveredto TV products 115. In contrast, many conventional systems presentlycreate one database of information that is suitable for delivery to oneparticular type of product, such as the PDA 116. These systems have asecond separate database of information that is suitable for delivery toother products, such as desk-top computers 117. When another type ofproduct is introduced into the market, these conventional systems createyet another database which stores information in a format compatible forthe new product. The weather system 100 eliminates the need for thesemultiple databases and consequently greatly simplifies the manner inwhich information can be delivered to multiple products.

[0108] In the preferred embodiment, the parser 101 receives informationfrom data feeds 90 and parses the data into XML. The parser 101 receivesthe data feeds 90, tags the information, and stores the taggedinformation in the XML database 103. The parser 101 performs atranslation function parsing the data from data feeds 90 into a commondocument model tree. In the tree, which is preferably based on XML orsuccessors to it, the data and their attributes are mapped into nodeswhich fit the common document model for storage in the database 103. Theparser 101 accepts a wide variety of data types or formats and puts thedata in a form and format that can be used by the common document ordata model. The parser 101 uses rules in determining how exactly thedata should be formatted and what attributes the data should take. Theserules are preferably written using a uniform rules definition language(URDL). The parser 101 may comprise a plurality of parsing engines witheach engine associated with one of the data feeds 90 or associated witha type or format of data feed 90. The parser 101 defines which templateto provide based on either extension or language as defined by the URL.The deliverable is device dependent but language independent. Thetemplate defines what elements to include so that a Palm template willonly load Palm elements, a pager element will only load pager elements,etc. The manner in which data is parsed and stored in the database 103will become more apparent from the description below.

[0109] A preferred system according to the invention allows for thedelivery of dynamic content to consumers. The system is used for thedelivery of content and other data to any type of product, such as thewireless phones 113, personal digital assistants (PDAs) 116, TV products115, and computers 117, as well as different platforms, such as web,wireless, etc. The system 100 separates the presentation of data fromthe actual application processing and data itself. The system 100 hasmany advantages over conventional systems, including it provides a quickdevelopment and delivery of applications, is scalable, and providesoptimal performance.

[0110] B. System Architecture

[0111] The system 100 preferably adopts a model-view-controller designparadigm (MVC) to enable the business logic to be separated from thepresentation, thereby making it easier to modify either one withoutaffecting the other. The MVC paradigm was introduced by Small TalkDevelopers at Xerox PARC in the late 1970's and its basic idea is tosplit an application into three distinct parts, each of which can bereplaced without affecting the others. The model part is the data of theapplication which, along with the business logic, defines how to changeand access the data. The model part can be shared among any number ofview and controller objects. The view part relates to presenting themodel's data to the outside world and can take the form of a graphicaluser interface (GUI), generated speech, audible tones, printouts, oreven non-user oriented output, such as turning on an air conditioner.The controller part involves gathering consumer or other environmentalinput and providing feedback to the model. The controller part normallyinvolves changing some of the data in that model or changing the view,such as the presentation. In general, the view, and possibly thecontroller ask the model for its current state. The view may presentdata to the consumer and the controller may check the data to helpdecide how to handle consumer interaction. The controller monitorsinput, such as consumer input, interprets the input, and, in response,asks the model to update its data and/or asks the view to change the wayit displays the data. Advantageously with the MVC paradigm, the system100 can have any number of controllers and any number of views whilemaintaining one set of business objects representing the model thatsupports multiple platforms.

[0112]FIG. 15 is a more detailed block diagram of the system 100representing the MVC pattern. In the example shown in FIG. 15, thesystem 100 is applied to a web architecture but it should be understoodthat the MVC model remains the same for other application deliveryplatforms. The system includes a web server 120 for receiving requestsover the Internet from a web client 130. A controller servlet 107 servesrequests made by consumers and forwards the control to an appropriateJava script page (JSP) in the presentation layer 108 based on therequest. The control layer 107 uses a command framework to control theflow through the system 100. The JSPs are used for presentation purposesand use presentation beans to display the data to the consumer. The JSPsare preferably used in a comparable way to HTML pages but with almost noapplication logic and can be modified easily by content personnel.

[0113] C. Application and Data Access Layer

[0114]FIG. 16 illustrates in more detail the application layer 106 shownin FIG. 15. The database 103 is separated into first and seconddatabases 103 a and 103 b. According to this aspect of the invention,database 103 b acts as a centralized data warehouse for all purposes,such as for other companies, and receives weather and other data fromexternal systems. Database 103 a, on the other hand, is a stagingdatabase used for delivering data to the system 100 and allows the datato be more efficiently accessed. For example, the database 103 aprovides data in a derived form, not normalized form, for access insevere weather alerts for a county or a National Weather Service zone.While the database 103 is shown as two separate databases 103 a and 103b the database alternatively could comprise a single database.

[0115] The system 100 shown in FIG. 15 includes an application and dataaccess layer 106. With reference to FIG. 16, a data access layer 106 hdeals with issues relating to the connection and communication withdatabase 103 a. For example, the data access layer 106 h providesefficient access to business data through connection pooling andprepared statements. Data beans 106 f are object representations of thebusiness data and data bean factories 106 e provide encapsulation of thelogic related to the creation of the data beans 106 f. Object caching106 g relates to caching of the data beans 106 f and preferable adoptsmechanisms which are flexible to cache any type of objects and not justdata beans 106 f. A data manager interface 106 d provides a commoninterface for accessing the data beans 106 f and encapsulates detailsconcerning the finding of data beans 106 f in cache and creating databeans 106 f creating the data bean factory 106 e, if necessary. The useof the data manager interface 106 d allows the rest of the applicationto focus on processing business rules, both presentation andnon-presentation related.

[0116] Presentation beans 108 b process the business logic which, asdiscussed above, is both presentation as well as non-presentationrelated. Instead of having the presentation beans 108 b process all ofthe business logic, the system 100 may include business objects forprocessing the non-presentation related business logic.

[0117] An XML based command factory 106 a and command object 106 bprovide a framework for the flow control through the system 100. Thecommand factory 106 a is responsible for creating the command object 106b which, in turn, is responsible for creating all of the presentationbeans 108 b. The command object 106 b is also responsible for retrievingall of the advertisements using an advertisement interface 106 c.Overall, command objects 106 b provide all of the data required by thepresentation layer 108.

[0118] The advertisement interface 106 c provides a common JavaBeaninterface to communicate with the advertisement system 109. Theadvertisement interface 106 c passes parameters to the advertisementsystem 109 which allows the system 109 to make all of the advertisementdecisions. The advertisement interface 106 c encapsulates all of thefunctionality related to the communication with the advertisement system109. Additional details about the advertisement interface 106 c and theadvertisement system 109 is provided below.

[0119] D. Process Flow

[0120] A control layer servlet 107 acts as a control layer and processesall requests received from consumers. The control layer servlet 107 isalso responsible for forwarding control to a JSP page after all businesslogic related to a consumer action has been completed. A description ofa process 140 by which a consumer moves from one JSP page to anotherwill now be described with reference to FIGS. 17(A) and 17(B). At 141,the control layer servlet 107 receives a request from the consumer andprocesses the request, such as by using a doget. The request can be anytype of event that prompts the system 100 to perform some action, suchas a consumer's request for a web page or an event that causes thesystem 100 to deliver information or commands. At 142, the control layerservlet 107 receives various parameters including command, which needsto be processed for displaying the other JSP page. At 143, the controllayer servlet 107 retrieves from its global structure data regardingthat command. The data regarding all of the commands is stored at theinitialization of the control layer servlet 107 by reading an XMLconfiguration file. At 144, some key data in the global structure is theJSP page to which control needs to be transferred after serving therequest. Data in the global structure also includes presentation beans108 b that will need to be built for that JSP page. At 145, presentationbeans 108 b acquire the appropriate data beans 106 f from the datamanager interface 106 d. The data manager interface 106 d creates thedata beans 106 f if they are not available in the cache. The data accesslayer 106 h is used to fill in the data that will be responsible forcommunicating with the database 103 a. The presentation beans 106 cprocess business rules, both presentation and non-presentation, relatedon the data at 147. At 148, a presentation bean 108 b is created whichcontains HTML fragments for advertisements associated with all adlocations available on the JSP page. The ads themselves are retrievedusing the advertisement interface 106 c. At 149, after all of thepresentation beans 108 b have been built, control is transferred to theJSP page. At 150, the presentation beans 108 b build dynamic componentson the JSP page and static components are rendered as well.

[0121] E. Presentation Layer

[0122] The presentation layer 108 will now be described in more detailin reference to FIG. 18. FIG. 18 is a diagram depicting a layout ortemplate for a typical JSP page. The JSP page includes a plurality ofpresentation components, which in this example exist of presentationcomponents PC1 to PC8. The description of the JSP page shown in FIG. 18serves to illustrate the different types of presentation components andtheir interplay with HTML fragments, JSP fragments, presentation beans108 b, and advertisement beans. The actual JSP pages may use anycombinations of these presentation components in delivering pages toconsumers.

[0123] In the example shown in FIG. 18, presentation components PC3 andPC8 are static HTML fragments HTML1 and HTML2, respectively. If all ofthe presentation components on a page are HTML fragments, advertisementsmay be inserted using a plug-in interface instead of using theadvertisement beans described below. The presentation components PC1,PC4, and PC6 are JSP fragments JSP1, JSP2, and JSP3, respectively. JSPfragment JSP1 is not associated with any presentation bean 108 b butinstead contains dynamic data retrieved using Java scriplets. JSPfragment JSP2 uses one presentation bean PB1 while JSP fragment JSP3uses two presentation beans PB2 and PB3. The presentation beans providedynamic data for the page, such as observations, weather forecasts, etc.Presentation components PC2, PC5, and PC7 are advertisement HTMLfragments which are retrieved from an advertisement bean ADB. Theadvertisement HTML fragments are stored in the advertisement bean basedon the position, which will be described in greater detail below.

[0124] A content developer can specify all of the presentationcomponents, with the possible exception of the advertisement components,as well as the advertisement positions for a JSP page. The actualadvertisements are preferably determined dynamically by theadvertisement system 109. Preferably, non-Java content developers createall of the presentation components which can then be dragged and droppedonto a presentation page. The drag and drop of presentation componentson a presentation page can be accomplished if the command factory 106 ais implemented using an XML configuration file. This XML file is read atthe load time and command objects 106 b can be executed during the runtime based on consumer input.

[0125] F. Command Framework

[0126] A command framework preferably used by the system 100 will now bedescribed with reference to FIG. 19. With reference to FIG. 19, aconsumer is displayed with an initial view, such as a home page, and theconsumer then takes an action, which may include any combination ofentering some data, clicking a link on the page, selecting a menu item,etc. By taking this action, the consumer receives a response from thesystem 100, such as a new view. For example, the consumer may enter acity and state and select the weather forecast for that region and thesystem 100 provides the consumer with the local weather page. A commandcorresponding to the consumer's action is passed as a parameter in acontroller servelet 107 along with other parameters entered by theconsumer. The controller servlet 107 calls a command factory 106 a tocreate the command object 106 b and passes all of the parameters enteredby the consumer to the command 106 b. The command object 106 b performsthe action intended by the consumer, such as creating a different view.Typically, the command object 106 b creates and initializes presentationbeans 108 b to construct a JSP page which is displayed to the consumer.

[0127] G. Data Access Interface and Data Beans

[0128]FIG. 20 provides a more detailed illustration of the data accesslayer 106. The database access layer 106 preferably maintains a pool ofdatabase connections using connection-pooling mechanism provided by JDBC2.0 Standard Extension API. The database access layer 106 uses the JavaNaming and Directory Interface (JNDI) and DataSource objects API as analternative to using DriverManager objects to access relational dataservers. Connection pooling eliminates overhead associated withestablishing, maintaining, and dropping a database connection for everyrequest and spreads the connection overhead across several userrequests, conserving resources. Connection pooling also improves theperformance by both identifying and terminating idle or orphanedconnections. The data bean factories 106 e are responsible for creatingdata beans 106 f for an application and a particular factory 106 e isresponsible for creating a particular type of data bean 106 f. Forexample, a data bean factory 106 e for creating observation data bean106 f will create all observation data beans 106 f. A data bean factorymanager 106 j is part of the data manager interface 106 d and is used tomanage the various data bean factories 106 e. A data bean cache manager106 k is also part of the data manager interface 106 d and is used inmanaging the data bean cache 106 g. For example, the data bean cachemanager 106 k maintains all information regarding the data beans 106 fthat are placed within the cache 106 g. The data bean cache 106 g ispreferably used to cache the most frequently used data beans 106 f. Adata bean access manager interface 1061 is part of the data managerinterface 106 d and provides a common interface for the rest of thesystem 100 to access the data beans 106 f.

[0129] H. Business Logic and Presentation Beans

[0130] The presentation beans 108 b process all of the business rules,both presentation and non-presentation related, for all of the otherbeans. For example, an observation presentation bean 108 b processes allof the business rules related to observations. The business rules mayinclude a non-presentation related rule such as displaying wind chillwhen temperature is less than a certain specified temperature anddisplaying heat index when the temperature is more than a secondtemperature. The presentation beans 108 b also process format relatedrules, such as displaying time and data in a certain format. Asdiscussed above, the business-related functionality separate frompresentation functionality can be handled separately. For example, withthe use of EJB, entity beans can be used to represent entities andsession beans can be used to encapsulate the processes wherebypresentation beans may be used to handle only the presentation-relatedlogic.

[0131] I. Advertisement Interface Module

[0132] The system 100 preferably delivers advertisements that aretargeted so as to command a greater value to the advertisers. Theadvertisements may be targeted in any one of a number of ways, such asbased on the person, geography, weather conditions, product, and partnerrelationship. Accordingly, the advertisements are not static but ratherare dynamically determined and retrieved. With reference to FIG. 21, theadvertisement interface 106 c is used to determine the advertisementsand generates corresponding HTML fragments for those advertisements. Theadvertisements themselves are stored in servers 109 b, such as RealMedia Ad servers. These servers 109 b deliver ads based on the product,location, weather, time, and consumer parameters. The advertisementinterface 106 c sends key words and data to an advertisement servermanager 109 a. The advertisement system interface 106 c also receives alist of beans that are converted into an “AdList,” which is a moredeveloper-friendly container that contains a hashtable. The AdList ispassed to JSP through the command object 106 b, which pulls theappropriate advertisements by keyword from the list to display them. Theadvertisement interface 106 c is preferably lightweight and abstractfrom the ad source and has extensions for bean pooling and theadaptation of new key words and data sources. A configuration of theadvertisement system 109 and the product/ad location translation areconfigured by a properties file that can be used to add more servers 109b for load balancing and scalability.

[0133] The advertisement interface 106 c may use any set of parametersto retrieve suitable advertisements from the advertisement servers 109b. These parameters may include the name of the site, such aswww.weather.com, AOL.weather.com, etc., which can be used to specifydesired language, co-brand, platform, etc. Another parameter may be asetup tag specified in a spoof URL, which may be used to indicate aproduct, country, state, direct marketing area, city, and zip code. Thesetup tag may also be used to specify the language of the site or theformat of the information. Another parameter may be a positionindicator, which may comprise a string of the name of ad positions forwhere the advertisement servers 109 b need to provide advertisements.

[0134] Some of the other parameters that may be passed to theadvertisement servers 109 b through the advertisement system interface106 c are one or more keywords. The keywords can relate to weatherconditions, such as rain, snow, cloud, clear, wind, or other keywordsthat specify sky conditions. As an example, the keyword may describe thecurrent temperature such as hot, warm, cool, or cold. The keyword mayalso provide other information of interest in delivering targetedadvertisement. For instance, the keyword may specify a referral domain,a client IP address, or a target cookie and a value of the cookie.

[0135] XI. Multi-Channel/Multi-Cobrand/Multi-Language Delivery

[0136] The system 100 preferably delivers information and servicesacross multiple channels, in multiple co-brand relationships, and inmultiple languages. Thus, with the system 100, a consumer can select anylanguage and have the system 100 fulfill requests appropriate to thatlanguage. Also, the system 100 preferably provides a localized face orentry point for international consumers. In the preferred embodiment,the system 100 has a default based locale setting that can be changed bythe consumer. The base locale determines what language is used todisplay and is determined according to the specific entry page theconsumer uses to access the system 100. Both the content andadvertisements are preferably tagged for the locale so that when theconsumer navigates to some specific location, the content andadvertisements will match that location. As mentioned above, however,the consumer is preferably able to change the default setting to alanguage or local of his or her preference.

[0137] For example, if the consumer enters the site via www.weather.com,the default display language is set to English. If the user thennavigates to the Paris, France local weather page, content modules thathave been tagged for Paris would appear, but would still appear inEnglish. If the user enters the site via tiempo.weather.com the system100 sets the default display language to Spanish. If that user thenvisited the Paris, France local weather page, the consumer would receivecontents and advertisements in Spanish. Also, if the consumer enters thesite www.weather.com and changes the default display language fromEnglish to Spanish, the system 100 would provide the consumer withSpanish language content, even if the consumer goes to the Paris, Francelocal weather page. The system 100 preferably has a plurality ofentrance pages, such as deutschland.weather.com, uk.weather.com, andnippon.weather.com that effectively set the default display language.Also, the language preference that a particular consumer selects ispreferably remembered from session to session so that the same languageis displayed until the consumer makes another change. Consequently, theconsumer need not go to a particular entrance point in order to obtain adesired language. The system 100 preferably not only selects thelanguage but can also select a dialect or version of the language for alocale. For example, the English language may be further separated intoCanadian English, US English, Australian English, U.K. English, etc.

[0138] The system 100 may deliver part or all of its information andservices in a partner relationship, such as in a co-brand agreement. Aco-brand can be a separate version of the information and servicesdelivered from the system 100 which have modified branding in the header(1) and/or footer (7) sections of the page, such as the one shown inFIG. 1. For instance, a modified header section (1) can have a set ofco-brand navigation links but could be combined with the same maincontent area section (6). Some examples of co-brands include The WeatherChannel or weather.com in combination with AOL, Netscape, Earthlink, andCompuServe.

[0139] As discussed above, the presentation page is made from aplurality of presentation components PC. These presentation componentscan be, but need not necessarily be, JSP or HTML and can be divided intoadditional presentation components. A JSP or HTML fragment is associatedwith a presentation component and uses the presentation beans 108 b. Thecommand objects 106 b create and initialize these presentation beans 108b, which use appropriate business or data objects. By putting theinformation about the presentation beans 108 b and presentation pagesinto a file, such as an XML file, than the same command can be used withdifferent presentations for different kind of channels, locale,co-brands, language, etc.

[0140] A presentation page can be defined in terms of its pagedescriptor, which contains the final presentation page information alongwith any needed parameters and all the components needed for thatpresentation page. A component prescriptor provides information aboutthe components, such as class name and initialization information. Bydefining the presentation descriptor and component descriptors atcompile time, an executable command, such as a class file, is created.Alternatively, rather than determining these descriptors at compiletime, a run time interpretation is possible. A diagram of an XML file,presentation page descriptors, presentation page identifier andcomponent descriptors is shown in FIG. 22. As represented by thisdiagram, the XML file contains the presentation page descriptors and thepresentation page descriptors, in turn, contains the presentation pageidentifier and component descriptors.

[0141] XII. Alternate Embodiment

[0142] In the system 100 described above, the application layer 106contains business data and objects and a JSP layer represents only thepresentation. The control layer 107 is also relatively thin with theresultant architecture allowing for the reuse of the same applicationlayer 106 for various controllers and views. In an alternate embodimentshown in FIG. 23, a system 100′ has an XML based command processor 152which gives the command and various parameters to the system 100′ andreceives a response back in XML format. The web client 130 can use anycontroller and presentation desired. Also, the system 100′ may have aCORBA interface 154 with appropriate interfaces surrounding theapplication layer 106′. A CORBA can therefore request application datausing the CORBA interface 154. Additionally, the system 100′ may have adirect XML feed directly from the database 103 to other systems.

[0143] XIII. Conclusion

[0144] The invention has generally been described with reference to aconsumer requesting information. As a common example, the consumerrequests information from a web site associated with the weather systemand, in response to this request, the weather system delivers theinformation to the consumer. The request may therefore involve theconsumer entering a domain name or clicking on a link. A request canalso be generated when the consumer interacts with the product, such aswhen the consumer enters information on the PDA 116 to cause the PDA 116to request weather information. The interaction sufficient to initiatethe request may be as simple as the consumer providing power to theproduct, establishing communications with the product through thenetwork, traveling to a new zone, or the issuance of a weather alert.

[0145] Furthermore, the weather system may make the informationavailable to the consumer before the consumer actually makes therequest. For example, the weather system may deliver information to aconsumer through one of the TV products. This information may bebroadcast to the consumer or downloaded to the consumer's product. As aresult, when the consumer then later desires to have the information,the consumer can cause the product to change channel to receive thebroadcast or the consumer can cause the information to be retrieved bythe product. Additionally, the request may be automatically generated bythe product without requiring any consumer action. Other types ofrequests for information are encompassed by the invention.

[0146] In the preferred embodiments, the request is sent through theInternet and the weather system delivers the information through theInternet. Thus, the request and the information are transmitted throughthe same network. It should be understood that the request and theinformation may be delivered through different networks. For example,the request may be delivered through the Internet to the weather systembut then the weather system fulfills the request by delivering theinformation through a cable network. Additionally, the information thatis transmitted to the consumer may be carried by more than one network.For instance, the weather system can deliver some information through apaging network to the consumer's pager, some other information through acellular network to the consumer's PDA, and commands through theInternet to the consumer's home thermostat.

[0147] The foregoing description of the preferred embodiments of theinvention has been presented only for the purpose of illustration anddescription and is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit theinvention to the precise forms disclosed. Many modifications andvariations are possible in light of the above teaching.

[0148] The embodiments were chosen and described in order to explain theprinciples of the invention and their practical application so as toenable others skilled in the art to utilize the invention and variousembodiments and with various modifications as are suited to theparticular use contemplated.

We claim:
 1. A weather system for use in providing weather informationto consumers over the Internet and having a tool for use by consumers ininteracting with the weather system, the tool comprising: a firstcomponent for allowing a consumer to input a desired request and specifywhat the consumer seeks from the weather system, with the what beingselected from a group comprising obtaining weather information andobtaining planning information; a second component for allowingconsumers to specify where the desired request should be directed, withthe where allowing the consumer to specify a geographical region;wherein the first and second components of the tool allow the consumerto tailor the desired request so that the consumer receives weatherinformation associated with the geographical region or to tailor thedesired request so that the consumer receives planning informationassociated with the geographical region.
 2. The system as set forth inclaim 1, wherein the first component is a drop-down menu of options ofitems in the group from which the consumer can select.
 3. The system asset forth in claim 1, wherein a default item in the group is obtaining alocal weather forecast.
 4. The system as set forth in claim 1, whereinthe second component includes a text box which accepts text from theconsumer for specifying the desired geographical region.
 5. The systemas set forth in claim 1, wherein the tool organizes geographical regionshierarchically.
 6. The system as set forth in claim 1, wherein theplanning information available through the tool includes planninginformation on an activity.
 7. A weather system for use in providingweather information to consumers over the Internet and having a temporalnavigator tool for use by consumers in interacting with the weathersystem, the tool comprising: a plurality of first elements for beingdisplayed to consumers, each of the first elements for displayingweather information during a different segment of time within a longerperiod of time; a set of the plurality of first elements being combinedand presented to the consumer as a group; and a plurality of secondelements with each of the second elements associated with a respectiveone of the first elements and for displaying additional informationbeyond the weather information available through the first element, theadditional information displayed through the second elements is for thesame segment of time as weather information available through thecorresponding first elements; wherein the consumer obtains theadditional information contained in a desired second element uponselecting the associated first element.
 8. The system as set forth inclaim 7, wherein each of the first elements displays weather informationfor a day.
 9. The system as set forth in claim 7, wherein the set offirst elements displayed to consumers is less than all of the firstelements.
 10. The system as set forth in claim 7, wherein the temporalnavigation tool further includes links to first elements that are notpart of the set of first elements.
 11. The tool as set forth in claim 7,wherein the additional information displayed through the second elementscomprises more detailed weather information for the segment of time. 12.A weather system for use in providing weather information to consumersover the Internet and having a map section for use by consumers ininteracting with the weather system, the map section comprising: a mapnavigator tool for use in displaying a weather map, the map navigatortool allowing consumers to access maps in a same collection of weathermaps as a displayed weather map; and a map selector for displayingcategories of weather maps, with each category of weather maps includingplural collections of weather maps; wherein consumers can navigatebetween maps within a desired collection of weather maps through the mapnavigator tool and can select a desired category of weather maps and thedesired collection of weather maps through the map selector.
 13. Thesystem as set forth in claim 12, wherein the map navigator tool furtherpermits consumers to navigate between a family of weather maps relatedto the displayed weather map.
 14. The system as set forth in claim 13,wherein the family of maps includes different sized maps of thedisplayed weather map.
 15. The system as set forth in claim 13, whereinthe family of maps includes the displayed map in motion and a staticview of the displayed map.
 16. The system as set forth in claim 12,wherein at least one of the weather maps is in more than one collectionof weather maps.
 17. The system as set forth in claim 12, wherein atleast one of the weather maps is in more than one category of weathermaps.
 18. The system as set forth in claim 12, wherein the map navigatortools has a drop-down menu of the weather maps in the same collection.19. A weather system for use in providing weather information toconsumers over the Internet, the system employing a navigationalarchitecture having: a weather page for a geographical region; and a setof pages contextually-related to each other and associated with thegeographical region; the weather page including links to each one of thecontextually-related pages; and the set of contextually-related pagescontaining links to both the weather page and also to all othercontextually-related pages; the weather page and the set ofcontextually-related pages being arranged in a hub-and-spoke fashionwith the weather page being a hub and the set of contextually-relatedpages being spokes; wherein from any one of the contextually-relatedpages or from the weather page, consumers can navigate directly to allother contextually-related pages or to the weather page.
 20. The systemas set forth in claim 19, wherein the contextually-related set of pagesare related activities for the geographical region.
 21. The system asset forth in claim 19, wherein the weather page includes a localforecast for the geographical region.
 22. The system as set forth inclaim 19, wherein contextually-related set of pages contain content forthe geographical region.
 23. A weather system for use in providingweather information to consumers over the Internet, comprising: weatherdata for a plurality of geographical regions; planning information forthe geographical regions, the planning information containing data on atleast one activity for multiple geographical regions; mixedweather-planning data associated with the data on each activity for eachof the multiple regions, the mixed weather-planning data providing arating of each activity for each geographical based on the weather datafor that geographical region; and the system providing the mixedweather-planning data to consumers in conjunction with the planninginformation; wherein the rating can be used by consumers in evaluatingthe activities at the multiple geographical regions and also in rankingthe activities between the geographical regions based on the weather.24. The system as set forth in claim 23, wherein the weather data usedin formulating the mixed weather-planning data for one activitycomprises a sub-set of weather data that may have an effect on the oneactivity.
 25. The system as set forth in claim 24, wherein the oneactivity is golf, the mixed weather-planning data comprises a golfindex, and the sub-set of weather data includes temperature, lightingstrikes, wind conditions, and precipitation.
 26. The system as set forthin claim 23, wherein the system displays to consumers each of theweather data, planning information, and the mixed weather-planning dataon a single page.
 27. The system as set forth in claim 23, furthercomprising a locator for allowing consumers to search for activitieswithin different geographical regions.
 28. A method of providing weatherdata and planning information to a consumer over the Internet,comprising: obtaining weather data for a plurality of geographicalregions; obtaining planning information for the geographical regions,the planning information containing data on at least one activity formultiple geographical regions; receiving a request from the consumerover the Internet, the request specifying an activity and a certaingeographical region; obtaining mixed weather-planning data associatedwith the activity and the certain geographical region, the mixedweather-planning data rating each activity for each geographical basedon the weather data for that geographical region; providing planninginformation for the activity to the consumer; and providing the mixedweather-planning data to the consumer through the Internet; wherein therating can be used by consumers in evaluating the activity at thecertain geographical region based on the weather.
 29. The method as setforth in claim 28, wherein obtaining the mixed weather-planning datacomprises deriving the mixed weather-planning data in response to theconsumer's request.
 30. The method as set forth in claim 28, whereinobtaining the mixed weather-planning data comprises storing the mixedweather-planning data for a plurality of activities and a plurality ofgeographical regions.
 31. The method as set forth in claim 28, whereinreceiving the request from the consumer comprises receiving anindication of what activity the consumer wants to do and an indicationof where the consumer wants to do the activity.
 32. The method as setforth in claim 28, wherein receiving the request from the consumercomprises providing the consumer with a local weather page with linksfor planning different activities and the request is a selection of oneof those links.
 33. The method as set forth in claim 28, whereinobtaining the mixed weather-planning data to the consumer comprisesselecting a sub-set of the weather data that may have an effect on theactivity and deriving the rating from the sub-set of the weather data.34. The method as set forth in claim 28, wherein obtaining the mixedweather-planning data comprises obtaining an index of the activity basedon the weather conditions.
 35. A system for providing weatherinformation to consumers over the Internet, the system presenting aninterface comprising: a banner section for providing some identificationof the system; a global navigation section designating a series ofheadings representing different categories of information availablethrough the weather system, each of the heading being associated with apop-up menu of sub-headings from which a consumer can select; a maincontent section comprising a plurality of components and having aplurality of tabs associated with different types of content availablethrough the system, consumers being able to navigate to a desired typeof content by selecting a corresponding one of the tabs; a footersection for use in providing non-weather information to consumers;wherein consumers can navigate through information available through thesystem by selecting any one of the headings, sub-headings, and tabs. 36.The system as set forth in claim 35, wherein the interface furtherincludes a section for displaying advertisements to consumers.
 37. Thesystem as set forth in claim 36, wherein the section for displayingadvertisements is contained within the main content section.
 38. Thesystem as set forth in claim 36, wherein the section for displayingadvertisements is separate from the main content section.
 39. The systemas set forth in claim 35, further comprising a navigational tool forallowing consumers to specify what type of information they want fromthe system and to associate a geographical region with the type ofinformation they want.
 40. The system as set forth in claim 35, whereinthe main content section includes an activities component for allowingconsumers to obtain information on the activities.
 41. The system as setforth in claim 35, further comprising a weather alert section fordisplaying weather alerts associated with a selected geographicalregion.
 42. The system as set forth in claim 35, wherein one of the tabscomprises a climatology tab permitting consumers to obtain climatologyinformation on a selected geographical region for a desired period oftime.
 42. A system for providing weather information to consumers overthe Internet, comprising: a database; a parser for receiving weatherdata, for parsing the weather data, and for storing parsed weather datain the database; a data access layer for controlling retrieval of theweather data from the database; an application layer containing businessrules for determining a desired set of weather data to be retrieved fromthe database in response to a consumer's request and for requesting thedesired set of weather data from the data access layer; a presentationlayer for receiving the desired set of weather data from the applicationlayer and controlling a look and feel of the desired set of weather datato be provided to the consumer in response to the consumer's request;and a control layer for receiving the consumer's request and formanaging a flow of data between the application layer and thepresentation layer.
 43. The system as set forth in claim 42, furthercomprising an advertisement system for selecting an advertisement to bedelivered in response to the consumer's request.
 44. The system as setforth in claim 42, further comprising at least one data feed forreceiving the weather data.
 45. The system as set forth in claim 42,further comprising a web server for receiving the consumer's requestover the Internet and for forwarding the request to the control layer.46. The system as set forth in claim 42, wherein information deliveredin response to the consumer's request is separated into a plurality ofpresentation components and the presentation layers involves use ofpresentation beans having the business logic to determine the data to beretrieved for a corresponding presentation component.
 47. The system asset forth in claim 46, wherein at least one of the presentation beans isfor obtaining an advertisement to be delivered in one of thepresentation components in response to the consumer's request.
 48. Thesystem as set forth in claim 46, wherein the data layer involves use ofdata beans for retrieving data identified by the presentation beans. 49.The system as set forth in claim 48, wherein the data layer furtherinvolves use of a data bean cache for storing certain of the data beans.50. A method of delivering weather information over the Internet inresponse to a request from a consumer for weather information,comprising: receiving weather data from at least one weather feed;parsing the weather data and storing parsed weather data in a database;receiving the consumer's request over the Internet; determining a set ofpresentation components that will form a response to the consumer'srequest; determining a set of presentation beans required to selectinformation contained in the presentation components; acquiring databeans for retrieving the information selected by the presentation beans,the data beans for retrieving at least the requested weather informationfrom the database; building the presentation components from the dataselected by the presentation beans and retrieved by the data beans;assembling the response based on the presentation components built; andforwarding the response to the consumer through the Internet, wherebythe consumer receives the requested weather information as part of theresponse.
 51. The method as set forth in claim 50, wherein determiningthe set of presentation components includes determining an advertisementbean for selecting an advertisement to be delivered as part of theresponse to the consumer.
 52. The method as set forth in claim 50,further including determining static fragments for some of thepresentation components.
 53. The method as set forth in claim 50,further comprising executing scripts to provide dynamic data for some ofthe presentation components.
 54. The method as set forth in claim 50,wherein determining the set of presentation components includesdetermining multiple presentation beans for some of the presentationcomponents.
 55. The method as set forth in claim 50, further comprisingselecting a language for the response.
 56. A method of permittingnavigation through a weather site on the Internet, comprising: allowinga consumer to select from any one or a combination of a plurality ofnavigational modes available at the weather site, the navigation modesincluding at least two from the group comprising: navigating through ageographical architecture provided by the weather site in which weatherinformation is arranged in a hierarchical manner; navigating through acategorical architecture in which weather information is grouped bycategory; navigating through a contextual architecture in whichinformation is organized into contextually-related groups of pages;navigating through a temporal architecture in which information isinterrelated chronologically; receiving a first request from theconsumer through one of the navigation modes, the request including afirst constraint for allowing the consumer to move within a selected oneof the architectures; delivering a first set of information to theconsumer in response to the request and the first constraint; permittingthe consumer to switch to a second navigation mode; receiving a secondrequest from the consumer through the second navigation mode, the secondrequest including a second constraint for allowing the consumer to movewithin the second architecture; and delivering a second of informationto the consumer in response to the second request; wherein the secondset of information delivered to the consumer is selected based on boththe first constraint and the second constraint.
 57. The method as setforth in claim 56, wherein receiving the first request is through thegeographical architecture, the first constraint is a geographicalregion, the second request is through the contextual architecture, andthe second constraint is an activity and wherein delivering the secondset of information comprises delivering information on the activitywithin the geographical region.
 58. The method as set forth in claim 56,wherein receiving the first request is through the geographicalarchitecture, the first constraint is a geographical region, the secondrequest is through the categorical architecture, and the secondconstraint is a type of weather data and wherein delivering the secondset of information comprises delivering the type of weather data for thegeographical region.
 59. The method as set forth in claim 56, whereinreceiving the first request is through the geographical architecture,the first constraint is a geographical region, the second request isthrough the categorical architecture, and the second constraint is acategory of data and wherein delivering the second set of informationcomprises delivering the category of data associated with thegeographical region.
 60. The method as set forth in claim 56, whereinreceiving the first request is through the categorical architecture, thefirst constraint is a category of data, the second request is throughthe temporal architecture, and the second constraint is a time periodand wherein delivering the second set of information comprisesdelivering information on the category of data for the time period. 61.The method as set forth in claim 56, wherein receiving the first requestis through the categorical architecture, the first constraint is acategory of data, the second request is through the geographicalarchitecture, and the second constraint is a geographical region andwherein delivering the second set of information comprises deliveringthe category of information associated with the geographical region. 62.The method as set forth in claim 56, wherein receiving the first requestis through the contextual architecture, the first constraint is anactivity , the second request is through the geographical architecture,and the second constraint is a geographical region and whereindelivering the second set of information comprises deliveringinformation on the activity for the geographical region.
 63. The methodas set forth in claim 56, wherein receiving the first request is throughthe contextual architecture, the first constraint is an activity, thesecond request is through the temporal architecture, and the secondconstraint is a period of time and wherein delivering the second set ofinformation comprises delivering information on the activity for theperiod of time.